"withdrawl" = withdraw

[Beverly Flanigan]

Cute.  Seriously, though--I have in fact heard a final dark /l/ on "draw"
many times (without linking to a vowel; the same occurs with "mamaw," a
regional word for grandmother).  And, in contrast, I've seen in student
writing the spelling "draw" meaning "drawl," as in "He speaks with a
draw"--where the dark /l/ is vocalized in speech and transported into
spelling as absent.  Both processes are common here in SE/Appalachian Ohio.

So I'm still suspicious about the origin of "withdrawal" as a verb.  It
seems to me it could have been generalized/reanalyzed on the basis of
pronunciation.

At 10:41 AM 2/2/2005, you wrote:
>At 7:08 AM -0800 2/2/05, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>  >From a customer review at Amazon.com:
>>
>>"In 1954, the French had to withdrawl and the Genevea accords were
>>signed. This called for Ho Chi Minh and his group to withdrawl to
>>the North of the country and the French puppet Bao Dai's government
>>to be in control of the South."
>Yes, and the Vietnam analogy is apropos, since the term goes back to
>our own Civil War/War Between the States/War of Northern Aggression,
>when Yankee soldiers noticed the funny way the Rebels spoke--"with
>drawl"--as they were retreating under heavy fire from outposts
>previously held.
>
>Larry